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| No. 50 | 
Mar 23, 2009, 01:02 PM
 Re: Warning - excelsior students Originally Posted by debfay 
I cannot speak to a new hire situation because I already had my ADN, RN, a good work history, and 15 years of experience before enrolling in Excelsior. If I were doing the hiring, I wouldn't hire someone who got their ADN through Excelsior. I don't think they have the clinical experience and supervision that they need. You can only learn so much from books and videos. Real-life patient care is very different. Excelsior tries to skirt the issue by saying that they require the student to have prior clinical experience (as a LPN, EMT, etc.) before accepting them for enrollment. An LPN I could see, but an EMT does NOT have nursing clinical experience. I'm sorry, it's just not the same. The state of Georgia is the only one that will not recognize an ADN degree from Excelsior, and it is because of the lack of a clinical component to the curriculum, not the content of the curriculum, and this is a new development, within the last year. I expect other states to follow suit, and this person's experience with job hunting in California is probably an indication that CA is going to jump on the bandwagon soon.  | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 52 |
Mar 23, 2009, 04:01 PM
Re: Warning - excelsior students Originally Posted by debfay I am a current Excelsior student. I got my ADN from a traditional community college, and am working on my BSN through Excelsior. I have had to ask for assistance from my Nurse Manager to complete some of the assignments (such as video-taping an assessment in a clinical environment), and she has been very supportive. I am not going to have any trouble moving into another position at my hospital when I complete my BSN. But that statement is based on the fact that I know I am going to have my manager's recommendation and support, and I think that is going to be the deciding factor in my hospital, not where I got my degree. They know me here, the degree is just a formality.
I cannot speak to a new hire situation because I already had my ADN, RN, a good work history, and 15 years of experience before enrolling in Excelsior. If I were doing the hiring, I wouldn't hire someone who got their ADN through Excelsior. I don't think they have the clinical experience and supervision that they need. You can only learn so much from books and videos. Real-life patient care is very different. Excelsior tries to skirt the issue by saying that they require the student to have prior clinical experience (as a LPN, EMT, etc.) before accepting them for enrollment. An LPN I could see, but an EMT does NOT have nursing clinical experience. I'm sorry, it's just not the same. The state of Georgia is the only one that will not recognize an ADN degree from Excelsior, and it is because of the lack of a clinical component to the curriculum, not the content of the curriculum, and this is a new development, within the last year. I expect other states to follow suit, and this person's experience with job hunting in California is probably an indication that CA is going to jump on the bandwagon soon.
I started my BSN with Excelsior but changed my mind after evaluating the sanctions from their ADN program over the past few years. I did do my ADN through Excelsior after working as a LPN for 10 years. I am always complimented on what a good nurse I am....I think Excelsior was ok for me....however people are associating the name Excelsior with a stigmata that is not desirable. Much of this stigmata is outside perceptions with limited knowledge of the program--and since I can't change it and it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon--then I must move ahead. Why would you do their BSN program with your opinions on their ADN? I knew I did not like the hype and boards reactions as of late, therefore I am almost done with my BSN through a state school.
| | No. 54 |
Mar 23, 2009, 07:22 PM
Re: Warning - excelsior students
*Excelsior does not own this site, or this forum. The high level of posting started about 5-6 years ago, when I and several others decided to network together here, and support each other through the program. At the time, there were a couple of Yahoo study groups, and EC's EPN was not very active. It was great networking here, because tons of previous grads on the site had valuable input and support to offer. And so, we continue to pay it forward to those who are currently in the program.
*Distance programs are popping up all over the place, and they're using EC's format. EC set the standard for these programs.
*No regrets here, for anyone that wouldn't want to hire me, as I got my ASN from EC. Too bad, because I have 14 years of level 1 trauma, emergency, and critical care experience under my belt. I'm working on a PhD now anyway, so bedside nursing is no longer on my wish list of potential job offers. When it was though, I had no problem getting any position I wanted.
*It does get old at times, defending EC...but those of us who know the program and how valuable it is, will continue to do so. Every couple of years, we get different people saying the same things. It runs in cycles. Personally, I have never made any bad educational decisions, and most of us who have graduated from the program have gone beyond the ASN degree. I wholeheartedly believe we have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a decent education. I truly don't know any dumb EC grads. One can listen to students in other programs, who only know their particular format, or one can listen to those who have been-there-done-that (and then some).
*As a moderator of this forum, I would love to see students in other distance programs participate here as much as the EC & ISU students do. It would truly make me happy to see what is out there, and how other institutions are making their programs work for their students. I like ingenuity, flexibility, and creativity. It rocks my world.  | | No. 56 |
Mar 23, 2009, 07:46 PM
Re: Warning - excelsior students
EC is not a teaching program. It is an assessment program. This is stated in their info. Providing clinical instruction would alter the intent of the program and negate its usefulness. If EC wanted to provide instruction, it would have done so from its inception.
| | No. 57 |
Mar 23, 2009, 07:53 PM
Re: Warning - excelsior students Originally Posted by PatMicNic Something has to be up with this school when multiple states don't accept their degrees, California, Georgia, Florida..you don't ever see this with people who go through the state programs and many private standard universities, least not from what I have read.
Not blasting, just asking if you have insight on why...I also went to their website, they need to be much more open about the limitations of getting a degree in this program and then finding out you have states you can't even work in. Also how can you do theory only in 4 months, when the rest of us have to take theory and clinicals for 2 years? For example at my school we have to get 1300 hours of clinicals Even for accelerated programs like at Oklahoma State University which is all online it takes minimum of 15 months. Again just asking, just doesnt make sense to me...
Sorry, but wrong, Florida does accept EC graduates, to sit for the NCLEX-RN in Florida you need to be an LPN, if you are something else, you must work in another state for so many hours and then get your license through endorsement. And no offense, but you gotta think outside the box here, if I go to school in Ohio and try to sit for the boards in any other state, it is not accepted, hello!?!?! Most schools are only accepted in THEIR state. And my LPN program contained at least 1300 hours of clinicals. EC is endorsed by NLN & CCNE, and since they are considered thee (notice I used thee) authority, I think that pretty much is the last work on that.. Distance learners are the wave of the future, all the recent studies done by the NLN say so. Hmmm, maybe it time to start thinking of "traditional" programs as outdated and obsolete. Professions that do not evolve die out. Education systems that do not evolve die out or become ineffective. And let me ask, why? why? why? does anyone want to put down anyone that is on a path to improve thenselves? I for one am GLAD that there are several different ways to achieve your nursing dreams.
| | No. 58 |
Mar 23, 2009, 09:55 PM
Re: Warning - excelsior students
Hi everyone. I am new here. I am an experienced medic, new RN, graduated from EC, and got my first nursing job (MICU) and after only a short stint, find myself working again as a medic, turned off by nursing, at least for the foreseeable future. For paramedics considering ec, the biggest issue I can see for ec grads is the lack of in-hospital clinical experience. Again, in-hospital experience. I am not including a medic's truck time - simply our time in hospital is abbreviated compared to a nursing student. That being said, it is my experience that acquiring the technical skills of an RN (foley caths, care of vent/trach patients, tube feedings, wound care, etc.) is technically no more difficult than starting an IV or other medic function. However, I think a paramedic ec graduate may have difficulty (as I did) with the following: We are used to one patient at a time. Managing 3 critical patients for 12 hours is nothing short of overwhelming for a new nurse. No wonder lunch is 15 minutes, if you eat at all. Med-surge, from what I hear, is no better - lower acuity, but more patients. A graduate of ec's program who was a paramedic most certainly struggles with handling multiple patients. Maybe someone can answer the following: Are traditional nursing students taught during their clinical time to manage multiple patients, and to what extent do they care for patients in each setting and exactly what areas of the hospital do they do clinicals in so that a paramedic may compare it with his/her hospital training? I hope this opens up some posts on comparisons of clinical experiences of the two professions. Finally, it didn't help to have a preceptor who took delight in devouring her preceptee, leaving me with a sour taste of nursing and my preparation for entering nursing. This definitely was a factor in my bad first experience with nursing, but truly I don't think it was the sole reason I felt so uncomfortable. My education to become a paramedic was excellent - I was very prepared to enter my profession. I do not want to "blame" ec for my disappointment with nursing, but I do want to warn others that I felt ill prepared to function in a hospital setting. For my paramedic audience, it would be like going through didactic, passing the certification exam, and then starting to work, bypassing the clinical training. You probably had seen the equipment before in passing as an emt, but now you are required to use these tools to effect interventions safely. I am sorry if I offend anyone out there - but honest acknowledgement of my experience, albeit negative, may help others make their own decision when deciding what path to take them to nursing.
| | No. 59 |
Mar 23, 2009, 11:09 PM
Re: Warning - excelsior students
I can tell you that the area nursing schools require the care of 3 patients by the end of their practicum. We see nurses from 3 community colleges and 2 universities and they all require this. We as preceptors are only to be available as a resource not as their assistant. I can also say that as an LPN I have cared for more than 5+ patients on my own....LPN's with experience are perfect students for the Excelsior program. I do think RT's and paramedics may struggle with in the real world of nursing. My good friend was a paramedic who did the program and she is one of the smartest most capable nurses around.....so it is individual and not necessarily applicable to all non-nursing background students. I also was one of the only new grad nurses to pass a a critical thinking exam at the hospital I worked at in Orlando. I always receive positive feedback on my nursing care....and I am another EC grad  Being a grad does not mean I approve of the way things are going or advocate the program to everyone...if it is your only way to reach upward THEN it is a blessing but if you have other avenues, I would make that my first choice.
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